Hi Everyone,
I birded private property near Allens Fresh in southern Charles Co. today as part of the Port Tobacco CBC. I was joined for morning and dusk by Tom Feild and Geraldine King, who also covered an adjoining territory. The quality birds came steadily in the cold over 12 hours of beating the bushes. Here's the full eBird list:
Allens Fresh
Clear and cold, low 30s, with a bit of standing snow throughout, getting slushy in the balmy 37 degrees of the afternoon. All water completely frozen. Bitterly cold while scanning for SEOWs at dusk along the completely frozen water. The sound of the ice cracking sounded too much like how my toes felt.
Canada Goose--370
American Black Duck--13
Mallard--5
Hooded Merganser--1. Flyby adult male in the early morning.
Great Blue Heron--3
Black Vulture--25. Seemed to be leaving roost in the distance in the early morning.
Turkey Vulture--7
Bald Eagle--12
Northern Harrier--4. Foraging around Allens Fresh throughout the day; one adult male, one adult female, two immature.
Sharp-shinned Hawk--1
Red-tailed Hawk--2
American Kestrel--2. Hunting around the property throughout the day.
Killdeer--2
Ring-billed Gull--66. Concentrated on the ice near the bridge.
Herring Gull (American)--6
Great Black-backed Gull--1
Mourning Dove--11
Eastern Screech-Owl--1
SHORT-EARED OWL--1. * Rarely detected in the county, the excellent reward for another long, cold vigil here. Seen well and at close range in the last light of a dusk watch. ID obvious. George Jett said he thinks the last record for the county was about 10 years ago. There are three previous eBird records for the county, all from Jim Stasz at this site:
2/25/00 - 2 - Jim Stasz
1/24/99 - 1 - Jim Stasz
1/28/96 - 1 - Jim Stasz
Note: The bird would not have been visible from the bridge along Route 234 when we saw it, but I would imagine that it uses that marsh habitat as well. We repeatedly watched harriers move from the marsh south of 234 and the private fields. In fact, it came from that direction...
Belted Kingfisher--1
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER--2. * Uncommon wintering species here. One adult and one immature, first detected by quiet gravelly calls.
Red-bellied Woodpecker--5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker--1
Downy Woodpecker--3
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)--5
Blue Jay--24
American Crow--14
HORNED LARK--2. Uncommon in the county.
Carolina Chickadee--5
Tufted Titmouse--4
Carolina Wren--9
Eastern Bluebird--7
Hermit Thrush--1
American Robin--58
Northern Mockingbird--6
BROWN THRASHER--5. Good count.
AMERICAN PIPIT--1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)--54. Northern Bayberry crop excellent here.
Eastern Towhee--6
AMERICAN TREE SPARROW--2. * Rare in the county but annual here. Two seen well foraging with a junco and goldfinch flock along the dirt road beside a patch of ideal habitat. Photos of them feeding on seed heads.
Field Sparrow--5
Savannah Sparrow (Eastern)--89
Song Sparrow--46
Swamp Sparrow--9
White-throated Sparrow--13
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW (Eastern)--28. * A high count. Uncommon and local in the county, this count shocked George Jett, who said the most he's had has been 5 or 6. eBird high count for the county was 3 before today. All 29 White-crowned were immature birds, and they were concentrated in two locations: a large patch of blackberry bushes and a scrubby area between an open field and a pond. Some photos.
White-crowned Sparrow--1. One immature had plain lores, either a good Gambel's or an intergrade. Photos.
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)--19
Northern Cardinal--13
Red-winged Blackbird--72
Eastern Meadowlark--15. A good count now, but the habitat is ideal.
House Finch--1
American Goldfinch--32
Good birding!
Bill
Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland
http://www.billhubick.com |